Emergency manager: Detroit Public Schools to close Kettering, City high schools

Aaron Foley | MLive.comDetroit City High School, an alternative education school, will be closed this fall.

Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts told parents, students and staff at two high schools that their facilities would close at the end of the school year, adding two more to the tally of closed schools he began announcing Friday night.

Detroit City High School, an alternative school on the city's west side, and Kettering High School on the city's east side will be shuttered, much to the dismay of parents and students who were informed of the closings hours after principals were notified on Monday. Kettering West Wing, a special education school within Kettering High, will also be closed.

During his first meeting at City High, Roberts, accompanied by DPS academics superintendent Karen Ridgeway and buildings chief operating officer Mark Schrupp, said only 229 students were enrolled in the building, which holds 1,000. Roberts also said that less than 1 percent of the students were proficient in math, and that 8 percent were proficient in language arts.

Roberts said that a significant number of students who attend Detroit City do not live in the school's neighborhood, located near Rosa Parks Boulevard and Davison Avenue. Students will be moved to Denby, Northwestern, Mumford or Cody high schools or their neighborhood schools.

That didn't bode well with parents, particularly those with special-needs children who feared that a change in learning environment would hinder their education.

"For you to come in here and close the doors on these kids like they're nothing, I have a problem with you," Michelle Gardner, whose son is in special education at City High, told Roberts. "The community cares about this school whether you do or not."

Roberts said the decision to close the two operations at Kettering was not only because of declining enrollment -- 930 students in a building that holds 1,800 -- but because $5 million in extensive repairs to the 48-year-old building were too costly for the district to fix. Kettering is also one of the state's lowest-performing schools, Roberts said.

Aaron Foley | MLive.comA mural inside Kettering High School, which will be closed at the end of the school year.

Kettering students will be moved to Denby, Pershing, Southeastern and King high schools, while students at Kettering West Wing high school will be moved to Finney, Southeastern, the Jerry L. White Center and Drew Transitional Center. Kettering was nearly closed in 2010 during Robert Bobb's tenure as emergency financial manager, but was given a reprieve over fears of clashes with students at Southeastern.

Members of the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) encouraged parents and Kettering staff members to sign a petition to repeal Public Act 4, the state's emergency manager law. One member of the group was escorted from the meeting by police officers, at least six of whom were in attendance, after cursing during his comments to Roberts.

No decision about staffing at Detroit City or Kettering has been made, Roberts said.

Last week, Roberts visited Southwestern High School -- which was also on Bobb's chopping block -- and Mae C. Jemison Elementary, informing parents, students and staff there that those schools would be closed. Roberts also announced that Ludington Middle School's operations would be moved to Langston Hughes Academy.

DPS' total enrollment was just over 167,000 during the 2000-01 school year, but is projected to be about 48,000 in the 2015-16 school year.

"The reason we're making this announcement right now is so that parents and kids have a chance to plan their lives," Roberts said. "I have 130 schools, and if I had nine or 10 schools and I asked 'who has to close, raise your hand,' no one would stand up. I will make the call."